With more than 1,000 Pokémon now wandering through games, cards, anime episodes, and the collective memory of several generations, it is fair to say they are not all design triumphs. Some are beloved mascots. Some are fish with ambition. Some are Dewpider. And yet the new website “Every Pokémon is someone’s favorite” has arrived with a gentle correction: every single one has at least one person ready to defend it in writing.

The site lets users choose a Pokémon, write a short note explaining why they love it, and add that tribute to a growing public index. It had only been live for a day when it had already gathered more than 55,000 declarations across all 1,025 Pokémon. Yes, all of them. No monster left behind, even the ones whose main talent is being remembered only during Pokédex completion.

How the fan-made Pokémon index works

The appeal is simple and oddly wholesome. Visitors can browse statistics, read notes left for individual Pokémon, or hit an “Explore” button to see a random declaration for a random creature. It is basically a public archive of very specific affection, which is a more useful contribution to society than many internet projects manage.

The entries range from childhood memory to plain nonsense, often in the best way. One Unown fan wrote: “i adore how useless unown are in fights. they are also the cutest thing ever and their weird essence touched my off-putting and isolated soul as a child who barely knew any english. I may not have known what any of the words in the games meant, but I knew I loved unown.”

Others keep things brisk. A Gible admirer explained the appeal with: “Hes just a hungy fella.” A Wailord fan went even more direct: “big whale cute.” Sometimes that is the full argument, and honestly, the court accepts it.

Which Pokémon are getting the most love

The site’s stats page offers a snapshot of fan affection that is both predictable and a little surprising. At the time of the original post, Gengar was leading the entire index with 725 declarations. Behind it were Mimikyu, Bulbasaur, Absol, and Arcanine.

That top group makes sense. Gengar has decades of spooky charm, Mimikyu has built-in emotional damage, Bulbasaur is Bulbasaur, Absol has its disaster-goth thing, and Arcanine is a large loyal dog with excellent hair. The surprise is who did not make the top 10: Pikachu.

For a franchise mascot who has been everywhere short of jury duty, Pikachu being absent from the top tier is notable. It may be the effect of overexposure, or maybe fans simply enjoy using the site to praise creatures who do not already have a global marketing department doing the work for them.

The least popular picks still have defenders

The site also shows the Pokémon with the fewest declarations, including the final five chosen to complete the on-site Pokédex:

  • Arrokuda
  • Capsakid
  • Brute Bonnet
  • Nymble
  • Quaxwell

Many of the lowest-ranked Pokémon come from the most recent games, which suggests the obvious: newer creatures have had less time to become someone’s childhood icon, emotional support monster, or weird favorite they refuse to explain at parties.

Among the original 151, the least popular appears to be Goldeen, with only four declarations at the time. Even there, the notes do their job. One user wrote: “I had the card when I was five and I thought it was the prettiest.” Another went much bigger: “She is beauty, she is grace, she is a transmasc king waiting to flower. I feel in love with her gen 1 pokemon card, and regardless of her stats in-game, regardless of whether or not she is useful in-game, I think she is the best. She reminds me of the goldfish in Fantasia. Anyway, I love goldeen.”

That is a lot of emotional labor for a goldfish, but it is also the whole point of the project.

Even the bottom of the list has charm

At the time covered, 22 Pokémon were sitting at the bottom with only two declarations each, and most of them were newer additions. Cascoon was among them, and its tiny fan club still delivered.

One Cascoon note reads: “It reminds me of my mom because it looks like a ball of yarn and she used to knit alot. Plus it evolves into Dustox who’s pretty cool and it looks like (•w•) <- that. I named mine Ham Chowder :3”

The second simply says: “silly little guy.”

Both are persuasive, in different academic disciplines.

A couple of names near the bottom are more surprising. Igglybuff being down there feels unexpected given its soft, round, baby-Pokémon design. Maschiff also seems like it should have performed better by default, because it is a dog, and dogs generally enter public opinion with a considerable advantage.

The one catch for alternate forms

The index does have one limitation: it does not separate different forms. That means fans cannot specifically declare for Alolan Raichu, Galarian variants, or other alternate designs as distinct favorites. For some players, that is a meaningful omission, because Pokémon forms can have completely different personalities, looks, and fan attachments.

Still, the broader result is hard to argue with. The site has already done a better job than a glossy Super Bowl ad at showing why individual Pokémon matter to individual people. The franchise may sell itself through major releases and famous mascots, but affection often lives in stranger places: a childhood card, a useless battle gimmick, a funny shape, a creature named Ham Chowder.

One more boundary: users cannot pick any of the three upcoming new starter Pokémon for Winds and Waves. So, no Pombon declarations yet. Patience, apparently, is also part of being a fan.